It is oftentimes desirous to apply a curl to straight hair. Individuals with straight hair tend to want to add a certain amount of body to the hair and this is accomplished by, among other ways, having a procedure known as a permanent wave or in the vernacular, a perm. The traditional procedure for perming one's hair has always included the placement of a multitude of hair wavers or perm rods or rollers within the hair. A number of these devices may be viewed in the following United States letters patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,425,527; to H. H. Klein; U.S. Pat. No. 1,684,774; to H. M. Montealegre; U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,737 to J. W. W. Holden; U.S. Pat. No. 2,489,120 to A. S. Carlin; U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,302 to R. N. Palitti; U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,006 to Collis, and; U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,414 to Fox et al.
The method for creating a perm using the above referenced devices and devices of similar import and structure requires that each perm rod or roller have wrapped around it a wisp of hair. This procedure is repeated many times throughout the head. Upon conclusion, there exists a multitude of perm rods having a wisp hair wrapped around each one, and these perm rods can number more than one hundred (100) depending upon the length of hair. Once the perm rods are in place, a perm solution is applied to break the bonds of the hair so that the hair may conform to the shape of the rod. Thereafter, the procedure of waving or curling one's hair requires that the rods be rinsed of the perm solution with tap water. Each rod is thereafter blotted with a towel to remove excess water. Finally, a neutralizer solution is then added which rebonds the hair around each perm rod thus causing the desired curl effect. As one can imagine, the amount of time and detail required to place so many rods on one's hair is very time consuming and tedious. In fact, a conventional perm takes approximately one (1) to two (2) hours to set all of the rods in place. In addition, with a large number of perm rods in one's hair, it is easy to miss the application of a rod or rods with the perm solution or neutralizer. As a result, the hair oftentimes does not receive the same amount of curl from the root to the end. The hair also does not receive the same curl from the root to the end because conventional methods require that the hair be completely overlapping when rolled thus preventing solution from reaching the end of the hair which is rolled first. This is a significant disadvantage because it is the end of the hair which should primarily receive the curl effect of the perm as that is the portion that exudes the visual appearance of the curl.
An additional disadvantage of the present method of perming hair is again caused by the quantity of rods used. This disadvantage occurs because the natural order of applying solution requires that some rods receive perm solution for longer periods of time than other rods. This causes excessive curl on some portions of the hair and less curl on other portions of the hair. The uneven curl resulting effect is highly problematic of present methods.
Still another disadvantage of the present method of creating a permanent wave in one's hair is the discomfort occassioned by the multitude of perm rods located on the head once it is prepared to receive the perm solution. Also, a head with perm rods attached thereon is exceedingly displeasant from an aesthetic point of view.